Horror's Depravity
by vandalvagabond
Summary: I committed suicide (Worm CYOA into Star Wars)
1. Chapter 1

**Horror's Depravity**

This is the only warning you get.

* * *

Worm Cyoa v.3 Revised

**Standard** 5  
**Pint-Sized** 6  
**Geas** (lustful)(greedy) 8  
**Wanted** (jedi)(Hutt)(sith)(galactic republic) 12  
**Special** **Snowflake** 11  
**Man of** **Mystery** 10  
**Apprentice** (thaumaturgy+) 7  
**Apprentice** (ninjutsu+) 4  
**Twins** (Panacea+) [power works on self for healing] 1  
**Wildcard** (Horror 10) [create devices and monsters whose central theme is horror] 0

* * *

Suicide was not the answer that I needed but it was the answer that I arrived to.

It started on a normal morning on a Monday.

I woke up to find that the company I worked for nearly two decades, since my teens really, fired me on grounds that I had been embezzling funds, which I never had.

A week after that, I found out that my girlfriend was a gold digger and left me a day after I told her I had been fired for something I hadn't done.

A month after that, my parents died in a car crash.

The coup de grace to all of this was the fact that my house and the city I lived in was struck by a freak firestorm, burning everything. I lived with barely a few possessions but homeless, jobless, and on the cusp of depression.

I had no relatives, I had no real friends, and I had no savings after I used what I had to arrange for a funeral I never needed to give my parents because the firestorm burned everything, including their remains.

I was tired.

So, so tired.

But then I remembered that I had a brother and a sister. I hadn't been able to contact them because the fire burned my phone, too, but they lived on the other side of the state. So I drove, taking the fastest route.

On the way, I drove along the edge of a mountain. I stopped - dont know why - at a small open space meant for picture takers. There were some of them there doing exactly that.

I got out of my car and just started out into the distance.

I looked down and saw a sharp cliff with the ocean tide crashing into the cliffside.

It was beautiful… and I thought…

Why … bother my brother and sister? Aren't they better off without someone like me? A friendless, penniless loser? I wasn't ambitious, so I stayed in one position for a long time. Why would I need to be ambitious when, prior to lal of these disasters hitting me, I had everything I wanted? But I was a nobody now.

It wasn't a rational thought.

It wasn't a good thought.

But it was the thought that was dominant inside my mind.

So I stared out into the Pacific Ocean, wondering why I was so … small.

And decided to end it.

I took a step forward and another.

I think someone took notice because they shouted at me, but I was too close to the edge.

I walked off.

For a moment, I was free as I plunged into the sharp rocks and the waves below.

Then.

Crack.

Let me tell you, death was not as instantaneous as I would have liked but it was close enough. For a single moment, I felt a pain unlike any other. So intense, hot, and profound, I achieved enlightenment.

'This was a bad idea.'

And I died.

* * *

The series of events that led me to my death also led me to here.

This empty expanse of nothing filled with baubles and trash.

I floated around this empty white places. I didn't starve or dehydrate even though I knew for a fact that I'd been here for a long time since my suicide. It made me wonder.

Where was I?

Was this limbo? If so, then why was limbo filled with trash?

Did heaven and hell deal with suicides like trash? An event that made souls unworthy of either afterlives?

Questions, questions, questions… Not enough answers.

This place, the White Limbo, was interesting at least, so I wasn't bored out of my mind. I collected trash, stacking papers, putting electronics in a box.

I did this again and again and again and again and again….

It was finally clean. After what seemed like forever, the White Limbo was clean.

I don't know why I started cleaning this place, but I cleaned it and felt great to see it so free of debris and trash.

The collected trash stayed in the neat pile that I made them into the-

Zap.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the pile of trash, or what took its place.

A piece of paper.

I grabbed the paper and then pulled it closer to my face. There was a note attached to the paper.

[Thanks for cleaning my house. Can't meet with you personally, but here's a little gift. I'll also send you to wherever you want.]

I looked down at the paper and …

"'Worm CYOA v.3 Revised, customize for interfictional use.'" I paused. "... A CYOA." I giggled madly. "A CYOA?" I giggled some more. "Sure."

I wrote out the options for a new me who was anything but me. I had been shy and content, so I made myself greedy and lustful. I had been powerless, so I gave powers that would make people green with envy.

I made myself immune to supernatural abilities that might interfere with mine and made myself a "man of mystery" because I didn't want people hounding me; I wanted to be free and being a mystery would get me that.

But then I had a point leftover, and I just rolled with it.

I giggled at the word I got before rolling for the power level, and laughed at getting the highest possible number.

Then I chose where I would be dropped.

I didn't want to go to Worm. It was a depressing shithole with a time limit.

This CYOA offered other options like Stargate: SG-1, Star Trek, Honor Harrington Universe, Halo, Mass Effect, and more.

I … chose somewhere that would allow me to get away from it all. A universe where I could build my own little piece of heaven.

Star Wars.

I smiled after reviewing the choices I made.

Then I folded the CYOA paper and my choices written on the sticky note that came with the CYOA, and sent it along.

I closed my eyes.

* * *

I opened my eyes.

The feeling was different. The lack of wind in that White Limbo was something I only realized now. It was so quiet in there… but not out here. No, it was noisy with the sound of rustling leaves and the chirping of the birds. The sky was blue and the grass was green.

Feeling great and energetic, I sat up.

And realized that I was tiny now.

"Great," I grumbled as I looked down at myself. "I'm a smol."

I may have been a loner, but I was not uncultured.

I stood up and realized that I was wearing strange clothes. Perhaps they fit in with the local fashion? It was one part flowing and another part loose. It reminded me of Roman and Greek tunic on top and short cargo pants on the bottom. It was breezy and cool, which helped under the star shining down on me.

It was strangely Earth-like, but a lot of worlds in Star Wars franchise was Earth-like.

"So," I grinned as I felt an adventurous excitement I never felt before spark within me. "Where am I?"

I didn't immediately start exploring. Instead, I sat down and went over my options. I didn't close my eyes or anything meditative, but when I thought about the CYOA, the powers granted to me sprung into my mind with gutso. They clamored to be used and be useful.

It was like … not puppies but children eager to prove themselves to their teacher. There was, however, a bit of eldritch feelings. Though I immediately made the comparison between my powers and children, but their expression was more than that; they pushed upon my mind to be used, my skin tingled, and my fingers twitched.

I considered my situation. I was out in the wilderness, no matter how beautiful it was, and I needed a way to find and to enter civilization. Sorry, Horror, but you aren't exactly subtle.

*Squeeee*

"So it will have to be Panacea," I said as I looked around and saw a good source of biomass to alter to my needs: a tree. I stood up, walked to the tree, and touched it with the palm of my left hand.

Immediately, I was assaulted by the whole of the tree, its condition, history, and genetics. I stared in awe, going over everything about this tree.

It took me sometime but I snapped out of it. Then I set to work.

I changed the tree's structure and brought its branches closer. The trunks and branches were hollowed out while outer layers of the trees, those underneath the bark, were strengthened with carbon nanotubes. I gave the tree a simple neural system without a central nervous system to direct it.

Instead, I created a neuro connector at the center of what was going to be the "cockpit." As the roots were cut off and the whole of the tree became lighter and greater, I smiled.

I stepped into the cockpit I created and felt the tree connect with me through an opening I created at the base of my own skull with Panacea's power. And just like that, the plant was now a power of me.

I experimentally swung the giant leaf-feathered wings, and a strong gust blew from the simple flap. Satisfied, I crouched and then jumped. I flapped my new wings and flew high into the sky.

It took me quite a while to find a city, but when I did, I realized exactly where I was.

The view of the grand palace looking over a cliff with a whole city beyond the cliff, and the entire vista was situated at the center of a hilly region. Its tall, domed towers and the spaceport at the bottom of the cliff… It was Theed. I was on Naboo. I grinned. Of all places for me to start, Naboo wasn't that bad of a location.

I broke down the tree into something more mundane. Absorbing the wings, the tree-exoskeleton grew taller. I intentionally grew out the chest and the shoulders to give it a masculine look. I fused some of the leaves together and then converted them to leather.

'Panacea, your ability is too OP but you are not,' I thought to myself, thinking of the mousy girl who was the healer of Brockton Bay before she broke, mentally.

Slowly, the plant exoskeleton finished its changes. I saw a normalish arms, a normalish legs, and a body with leather garb to hide the exoskeleton's crotch.

I mean, it was something I should do, right? Not expose the crotch?

Satisfied with my design, I walked in.

* * *

I parked my plant-exoskeleton elsewhere and wondered the spaceport a little. There were a few people wondering about just as I was, and I found a Botan who looked like he was a pilot.

"Hey, mister!"

The botan looked up from where he'd been leaning on the hull of a ship and reading from a datapad.

"Hmm?" he grunted and then saw me. His dull eyes sharpened for a second as he looked over me. "What do you want, kid?" he asked, looking around.

"I'm trying to get offworld," I said with a grin. "If I give you payment, then will you get me offworld?"

"Where do you even want to go?" he asked. "And what are you going to pay me with?"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out some crystals I'd found while walking to Theed. "How about these?"

The botan stared at the crystals for a second before his eyes widened. "... sure, kid. You can wait inside my ship."

"Okay~. I actually have to get something, though, so I'll be back in half an hour. Is that alright?"

The botan grinned. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Just be back here in half an hour."

I nodded and raced back to where I parked my plant-exoskeleton. Thankfully, no one found it, and I condensed it. It became really thin but by the time I was done, it was no bigger than a backpack, and I hung it over my shoulders like it was a backpack. It was a bit heavy, but I was fine with that, because I was extending root-like structures through the back of my shirt from the backpack and wrapped the root-likes around my entire abdomen and lower body. Soon, I had a supportive exoskeleton just underneath my clothes.

Then I raced back to the botan and his ship.

The botan was waiting for me with a grin and let me on his small freighter through the cargo ramp. The ramp then closed, and then he led me through his freighter's hallway until we reached a door and he opened it.

Then suddenly, he pushed me in, and I stumbled forward.

The door slammed shut behind me. Blinking in surprise, I looked around.

Inside the room with me were people. Some were crying, others were bruised, and there was even a little girl with a bleeding forehead.

…

Oh.

This was a slave ship, and these were kidnappees, weren't they?

"What a shitty luck I have," I muttered to myself.

… But then again, I was trying to get offworld, and if I made any commotion, then it wouldn't get off. Also, securities will be called in if a ship started shaking violently as I rampaged through it, and with how my plant-exoskeleton would like on the surface, regular people would turn their guns on me.

With a huff, I sat down where I'd stopped stumbling and waited.

Once we were in space…

Well, I would go crazy.

* * *

**Universe**: Star Wars  
**Species**: Human, 10 years old  
**Time** **Period**: 50 BBY  
**Location**: Theed, Naboo

* * *

_A/N: From this point on, the story will not be from the SI/OC's POV but rather those who interact with him._


	2. Chapter 2

Captain Tojuki blinked. "So a little kid walked up to you, asked you to take him off world, and got on?" he asked his First Mate.

"Yes, it was hilarious for me," Swaswik chuckled. "Even 'paid' me with Naboo Whites."

The captain's eyes widened as the First Mate pulled out five small gems from his pocket, carefully wrapped up in handkerchief. Shining brightly, the crystalline white gems that had to be worth twice his ship, shined in the botan's hand.

"My cut?" the captain asked greedily. The First Mate grumbled and handed him two of them five gems. Right off the bat, the captain could tell that the two he got were the least valuable of the five, but the two of them together was still worth his ship. "Good." It could be better, but it was still good.

"... But it's weird."

The captain glanced at him. "What?"

"The kid. He was wearing this leafy backpack."

"Probably some primitive thing. Not everyone on Naboo's high tech," he said as he moved to the bridge of his freighter. "Let's get going. Can't stay here for too long."

"Aight, boss."

The two of them, two of the seven crew members, sat in their respective positions in the cockpit, and began to activate the systems. Then Swaswik sent the traffic center permission to depart. Within minutes, permission was granted and a flight path out of the planetary atmosphere was transferred over to their computer. Less than half an hour after receiving the flight path, the _Hauler _was out of the spaceport and flying out of the atmosphere.

"Alright, set path to Sleylon," Tojuki told his First Mate. The botan looked surprised at him.

"You want to go to Hutt Space right off the bat? We're not getting more slaves?"

"Naw," he said. "We got these boys to sell, remember?" he showed his First Mate the gems. The botan's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah. But why Sleylon?"

"Don't want to get caught up with any pirates deeper inside the Hutt Space."

"Good point. Alright, setting path… and then we're off."

The ship lurched once before everything outside the ship turned into a colorful blur.

* * *

Ranna stared nervously at the new kid the kidnappers walked into the room with the rest of them. If she didn't know better, then she would have said that the kid didn't know that he'd been kidnapped from the way he looked around. Everyone seemed to pity the little kid for this "innocence" but she knew better.

Ever since she was little, she had been a force-sensitive. Oh, she hadn't been sensitive enough for the Jedi Order, but she was still force-sensitive. It was through this sensitivity that she knew there was something wrong with the kid. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he'd been kidnapped.

What sucked was that the kid decided to sit right next to her.

"So," the kid said. "How did you get kidnapped?" he asked.

She stared at him. "So you did know."

"Know what?"

"That you're on a slaver ship."

He scratched the side of his cheeks for a second before shrugging. "I mean, yeah? How could I not? Suspicious looking folks on a dirty ship fit for the Hutt Space? I wouldn't be surprised if the dirt around here was brimming with tetanus."

"Tetanus?"

"Ah. It's a disease. Makes you stiff to the point that you can't breath. Happens over a long period of time."

Ranna curled up, trying to not touch any of the dirt on the floor of the room, and the few people in the room did the same.

There was a lurch.

"Hmm, leaving atmosphere?"

Some time later, there was another lurch.

"Ah. Hyperspace."

Suddenly, the tone and the voice of the boy changed. 'Hyperspace' was spoken in a deep baritone that Ranna didn't expect from the boy.

Then her eyes widened in horror as something utterly new unfolded before. Her force-sensitivity blared in alarm like a shrieking yol-feline fleeing from a bigger predator. The rolling aura of the boy "cracked" like an egg, and from within, darkness she'd never felt before poured out. Everyone around them shivered, not knowing why. Ranna scrambled back from him.

The boy looked at her for a second before smiling. The fake and shining innocence in his eyes was gone, replaced by dullness. The boy's leafy backpack unfolded by itself and plant tendrils crawled out.

Everyone began to scramble away from him as the tendrils wrapped around the boy's head. The boy stood up, creaking and croaking in places that should not have done so. From under his clothes, plant tendrils crawled out. Soon, the boy was completely covered in plant and yet didn't seem to be suffocating or even have trouble moving.

Then tiny mounds grew all over the body. Within seconds of their appearance, the mounds cracking open and eyes looked around from within.

The boy - no, not a boy but a monster! - began to grow taller and bulkier. Then a mouth filled with sharp-teeth like barks opened and a leafy tongue rolled out.

'It's going to eat us!' Ranna shrieked mentally as she pressed herself against the walls like the rest of the kidnappees.

Instead, it looked around before facing the door. The creature walked up to it and punched.

The reinforced and locked ferro-carbon door caved in, and then the next punch tore it off the hinges completely.

Like a war cry, the creature shrieked and ran on all fours towards the cockpit.

Because of how small the freighter was, Ranna heard everything.

The thing pounding on the door.

Screams of slavers. Firing of blasters. Bodies ripping apart. Screams of the dying. The crunch of teeth sinking into flesh and bones.

The begging.

The slow stomping.

The final scream of the last slaver.

"▁▂▃▄▅▆▇▉█!"

Ranna cried. They had to be next. They all saw what the boy-creature looked like. They had to be next!

The creature began to make its way towards the room, the gradually louder stomps on the metal floors making this clear to everyone.

As if being quiet would make them invisible, everyone clamped down on their mouths and others.

And then the monster was there.

Ranna wanted to scream. She really wanted to scream. Some of the parts of the monster were replaced with flesh from the slavers. A third of the captain's face was on the creature's chest, its lone eye looking around even as more eyes formed on the human flesh. Its leafy tongue was gone, replaced with a blotchy tongue that had to be made from the tongues of every dead slaver on the ship.

The worst thing was the head the monster held in its left hand. The head of one of the slavers with its mouth open yet its eyes moving. It gaped again and again.

The head was alive, even though it was clearly lacking a body.

Finally, a child cried in terror.

The creature stared at the child.

Ranna, to her shame, stayed in her corner.

Then the creature went back out to the ship and -.

Squelch. Rip. Squelch. Crack. Rip Rip rip rip rip.

She clamped her hands over her ears. She didn't want to hear anything that was happening out there!

Then the monster returned… with …

A teddy bear.

A teddy bear.

A teddy bear.

A teddy bear with real hair, leathery texture on its paws, and the smell of copper hanging about it.

Ranna's teeth clattered as the monster slid into the room and crouched in front of the crying child and gingerly presented the teddy bear made from sentient flesh. It shook it gently, moving its arms.

Ranna wanted to throw up. Her breakfast was in her mouth, but didn't dare to open her lips lest she got the monster's attention.

The child stopped crying, sniffling still, and took the flesh teddy bear.

The child's mother stared in horror.

The monster turned to look at them all before it opened its mouth.

"R-R-R-Ret-t-t-t-t-t-turn…?"

"H-home?" the child answered.

"Y-Y-Y-You g-g-g-g-g-go h-h-h-home?" the monster answered.

"I-I-I wanna go home," the child whimpered.

"T-T-T-To h-h-h-home."

The monster stepped out of the room and then walked towards the bridge of the ship.

She kept her hands over her ears as the monster broke the bodies of the slavers outside for god knows what reason.

She just wanted to go home.

Finally, Ranna broke down and sobbed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Theed City Interstellar Law Enforcement**  
**File 24993/713/3**

**Interview Recording**  
24993.7.13  
Detective Yumatina (Y): This is Detective Yumatina, starting an interview with one of the kidnapping victims from the former crew of the _Hauler_. It is … 24993 Galactic Standard Calendar. It is the seventh month, third week, and a taungsday. It is also the early morning of 3 a.m. on Theed, Naboo. *mutters something* May I have your name please, miss? It's for the purpose of the interview.  
Ranna (R): A-Ah. Sorry. M-My name is R-R-Ranna. I …. I was onboard the _Hauler…_?  
Y: Yes, the _Hauler_.  
R: I was onboard the Hauler when one of us became … a monster.  
Y: I would like to start on the figure you and the other victims have pointed out. Who is he?  
R: We don't know. They brought him in at the last moment. I-I thought we off even then. He didn't even...  
Y: Yes…?  
R: He didn't look upset at all.  
Y: Anything else?  
R: He had a leafy sack with him, slung over both of his shoulders. He seemed calm and collected, which isn't something someone his age should have been… if he was as old as he made himself look.  
Y: What happened after?  
R: The ship took off, I think, and the boy asked if we were leaving atmosphere. I was too out of it to answer him. No one did.  
Y: Then?  
R: When we entered hyperspace, the boy just smiled and t-t-t-things began to grow out of him. I-I think they were plants but I've never seen plants grow that fast. O-Oh god, they covered him and he began to grow so big…!  
Y: Miss, you're not there anymore. Take a deep breath in.  
R: [begins to hyperventilate but is able to calm down] H-He was at least 3 meters tall. I couldn't see anything human that he used to be, or was the human underneath the plant? He just walked up to the door and punched it.  
Y: … Punched the door? A reinforced ferro-carbon door?  
R: Yes. He just punched it and then again when it didn't break. The s-second punch did it.  
Y: … I am recording down that the force required to break down a standard reinforced and sealed ferro-carbon door on a normal freighter is in excess of two thousand kilograms. Miss Ranna, please continue.  
R: Then he just shrieked like an animal and charged out there. After that… I didn't see anything, just hear them. He ripped them apart. I c-could smell it. I-I-I could s-s-s-smell it!  
Y: De-  
R: [Begins to hyperventilate] H-H-H-H-! I-I-! [Begins to froth at the mouth]  
Y: [Rises out of his seat] Interview is over. Someone get me a medic!  
**Interview End**

**Evidence Analysis Video**  
24993.7.13  
Forensic Analyst Garm (G): This is Analyst Garm, seven-thirteen 1 p.m… and I can't believe I am doing this. Or what I am seeing in front of me. According to the file I've read before performing this autopsy, this teddy bear used to be people.  
[Silence]  
G: God, what the fuck.  
[Picks up tool and begins to make incision]  
G: … Yes, that is definitely a human heart. Why does a teddy bear need a heart?  
G: Wait. Is … Is that heart beating?  
[The evidence's right arm moves its paw onto the analyst's hand]  
G: #! !$! ! AAAHHHHH!  
[Analyst's hand is crushed underneath the paw. Analyst Garm attempts to flee but the evidence is somehow keeping the analyst in place without causing itself to move from the table]  
G: Someone help! HELP!  
[The evidence grows in size until it is twice as tall as the analyst and thrice as thick. It lost its semi-cute appearance until it became an amalgamation of multiple individuals. Its left paw grew claws and slashed Analyst Garm's face, causing immediate death when the claws tore out chunks of the analyst's brain matter]  
[The creature screams and charges through the forensic lab and then into the ]

**Addendum 24993/713/3 - 1**

*Total number of deaths caused by 24993/713/3 E1, nicknamed "Demon Bear," is 7.  
*The individual responsible for the deaths of the slavers aboard the Hauler and the return of Naboo citizens is hereby wanted for questioning regarding 24993/713/3  
*This file and the attached videos are to be sent to major cities around Naboo.

* * *

Hyan glanced at the boy-monster to his left.

When it killed the slavers and pulled this ship back to Naboo to return the kidnapped victims, Hyan, one of the victims, stayed.

Why?

Because despite the gore, violence, and death the monster brought to the slavers, it didn't hurt any of the slavers' victims. It could have used its strength to force them to be his slaves or just wait to the end of the hyperspace route to sell them off to someone else for a little bit of seed money, but it didn't.

It was a protective being, and Hyan realized this. So - instead of staying on Naboo, where he could be kidnapped again or suffer some other attack - he chose to take his chance with the monster.

"Why Outer Rim?" he asked the monster.

The boy-monster stopped humming for a second before giggling on the captain's seat. Its left hand remained firmly on top of the severed and still living head of the former right-hand of the slaver captain, and Hyan shivered a bit when he saw the pleading eyes of the head.

"Because it's quiet out there."

Hyan stared at the boy-monster for a few seconds. "What … do you mean by that?" he asked tentatively.

"I'm going to make a home for myself. It's going to be awesome."

"Okay," Hyan replied. "But I think you intend to do more than that."

The boy-monster finally looked at him and smiled that nasty smile of its, its lips stretching from one end of the jaw to the other end. Human, it may look like. Human, it was not.

"You're smart."

"Thank you…?"

"Why did you come with me?"

"... Because I thought it would be safer with you."

"That's it?"

"... What else would I say?"

"What if…"

"What if?"

"What if I can make you better?"

"... Better?"

"Stronger, faster, fierceless, brave, courageous. You would not be prey anymore. You would be strong enough to stand on your own."

"And you can make me that?"

"Of course."

"What would I be at the end of it?"

The thing smiled softly.

"Strong. Wise."

"... I'll think on it.


	4. Chapter 4

24995.2.16  
Ryloth

"Would you care to listen to the wise Words of Kalakata?"

The twi'lek woman Doto spoke to sneered at him. "No, I don't," she said and then walked away briskly.

Doto felt his shoulders sag.

While it wasn't a requirement, all members of the Cult of Kalakata was expected to bring at least one convert to the cause. Unfortunately for Doto, he had little charisma and linguistic gift.

He was brought into the cult by his fellow co-worker at the Matan City Bureaucratic Complex, and when he saw the wonders and the gifts of Kalakata, he was enamored by the god of the cult. Everyone he met in the cult was nice, and in the past year that he had been part of the Ryloth branch of the cult, he'd seen nothing bad for him within the cult. He met the king of Kalakata, been blessed by the deity, and explored the city of His Majesty.

The word "wonder" could not express just what he saw. The sheer majesty of the City of Kalakata had been seared into his mind, and he couldn't help but want to return to the place where reality played to the tune of the king .

He was passionate about Kalakata, He-Who-Harbors, and the city he had been to, but that was just it for him. He had no other skills to bring to the table, and while he was willing to throw himself into any work for the cause of spreading the Words of Kalakata, he was not better than anyone else.

Sad that he would return to the cult compound without a new convert again, he made his way back home in a slow trudge.

He clutched the Words of Kalakata, the holy book of his order, and made his way through the streets of Matan City.

As he walked through the streets, he noted the Abnormals. They skirted around, invisible to all but those who were Force-sensitive or followers of Kalakata. Without a thought, his mind reached out and snapped a flying Abnormal, a flat and long wispy thing, and devoured it. There was an ethereal shriek before being dissipated into nothing, leaving him with all of its energy.

This was the Third Truth of Kalakata: "The Followers of the Truth Shall Eat and Grow."

As it had been told to him, he had this ability to "eat" Abnormals, creatures born of fragmented Force or disturbed planes of reality, from birth, but the only reason he was able to access it was because it was unlocked for him by the king of Kalakata.

… But he couldn't return the favor the king had given him.

By the time he had devoured seven Abnormals, he was back home at the order's compound at the outskirt of the Matan City.

The compound was a five-walled structure with five-sided low wall surrounding it. Occupying roughly 12 hectares, it was a modestly-sized compound for a religious order of their size.

"Doto!"

The twi'lek male flinched when he heard the rebuke in the voice of the caller.

He turned around to see a group of twi'leks coming at him, and at the head of the group was Branch Priestess Shala.

"P-Priestess Shala, h-how are you-?"

"You idiot!"

Bonk.

"Ow-"

Bonk. Slap. Bonk bonk bonk!

Doto groaned in pain as he nursed his poor head after the abuse poured out by the priestess.

"What did I tell you about going deep into the city!" the pink-skinned twi'lek a head shorter than him roared out like a lioness. Had she been a normal twi'lek, her roar would have been just that: a loud burst of sound. She was, however, a priestess of Kalakata and she wasn't chosen for her beauty or smarts.

Priestess Shala was a powerhouse. She possessed a level of power unheard of even amongst the other priests and priestess across the galaxy. With a single world, she can collapse buildings, throw entire towns into a mindless rage, or even warp natural laws of reality to her benefit.

To be a follower of Kalakata, however, meant that one did not abuse the powers granted to them by the king of Kalakata. Everyone, followers and strangers alike, should strive to please the king, not disappoint the king lest He-Who-Harbors seeks to stop Harboring.

"To not go by myself…" Dotor replied to the priestess.

"That's right, and do you know why?"

"Because the elites hate us."

"Exactly!"

The Cult of Kalakata, or the Follower's Order of the City of Kalakata's Words, abhorred slavery as not only was the practice horrible but also because it was the Fifth Truth of the Words of Kalakata: "You shall not Pillage the Freedom to Choose from Others." This rung strong in the Ryloth Branch, and it was the second most preached tenant.

Of course, this put the Cult at odds with the leadership and elites of Ryloth, who maintained Ryloth's freedom through slavery.

There had been more than one attack upon the compound by "outworlder" mercenaries already. Thanks to the priestess, they were swept aside with the strength comparable to a heat wave. It scared the elites and their slavers so much that they haven't done anything horrible in a while.

Doto knew that just exposing himself as he had done would sooner or later incite the fools to do something.

… But he hadn't even brought a friend to visit the order unlike everyone else.

The priestess sighed. "Doto."

"Yes?" he asked without looking up.

"I'm going to the City of Kalakata. Do you want to come with me?"

"YES!" he shouted as he shot up from where he'd been moping.

She snorted. "Be sure to prepare a good tribute to the king of Kalakata."

Doto stood there silent for a second. "Crap-!" he cussed before zooming away towards the sun.

* * *

Priestess Shala chuckled as she watched Initiate Doto zoom off into the distance towards the sun.

Normally, a twi'lek would be concerned about one of their friends and families running towards the sun, but no twi'lek of the Cult was. The Blessing of the Kalakata ensured that something as mundane as heat that would kill a normal twi'lek wouldn't kill even an initiate.

Perhaps of Doto traveled five dozen kilometers deeper than what most twi'leks do, then he might come home with a second-degree sunburn, but he would still be alive.

There were a lot of Abnormals there, so Shala did not doubt that Doto would have something wonderful to gift the king of Kalakata.

"Madam!" someone came shouting from within the cult compound. "Ambassador is here!"

The priestess' eyes widened and she raced inside, throwing all decorum to the wind. She came to a stop before the Gate House, a structure at the heart of the compound, and quickly stepped inside.

The quarter-hectare structure contained no walls or pillars inside except for a single rectangular arch built out of black stone of some kind. Under the arch, however, was a portal that only opened once a month or at the behest of the rulers of Kalakata.

Ambassador was one such ruler.

The being that now stood on their side of the gate - the other side being the World of Kalakata itself - stood twice as tall as her. His spindly eight arms formed a pattern in front of his mantle. His tail slid behind him, though Shala knew that he could whip that thing with enough force to break a twi'lek in half. The Ambassador's five eyes stared at her upon realizing she was there, and his two pairs of lips stretched into a pleased smile.

"Ah, Priestess Shala~," Ambassador Hyan crooned, sounding like a drawn-out orchestra of baritone-voiced birds. "It's good to see you~!"


	5. Chapter 5

They didn't normally meet unless there was an issue at hand. Unfortunately, there was definitely an issue for the Jedi Order.

So there they were, the twelve members of the Jedi Council sitting around their meeting room, the Council Chamber, unsure of how to start.

Ki-Adi-Mundi stroked his beard. 'But everyone knows that someone has to broach the topic,' he thought to himself.

The reason why they had gathered here was because of Force premonition that many masters, knights, padawans, and even younglings received.

However unlikely it was, with the very Force itself alerting them to a dark and dangerous presence somewhere in the galactic south, Ki-Adi-Mundi could not deny this issue. At the same time, he began to calculate what the source of such a vile and dark presence might be.

At first, he thought that it had to be a Sith. While there existed many force groups and individuals that the Jedi Order had gone up against for both short and long period of time, Sith always came back. At the same time, no Sith had been seen for over a thousand years… But he also knew that during times of great peace, there were oddities among the Jedi Order who split away to become a Sith, one way or another.

He hoped not. He did not want to fight brothers and sisters of the order, but if someone had become a Sith, then he would fight to kill. He would grieve for his fallen comrades, but better it be they, the Jedi, who fell in battle and not the rest of the galaxy, who needn't be involved again in the war against the Light and the Dark.

"You have received the vision?" Mace Windu asked, finally broaching the subject.

There were looks tossed about.

"Vision, I have seen. A dangerous presence, we know."

Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke up. "Then we must seek it out. We cannot let it fester, lest it grows to become a threat to the balance of the galaxy."

"We know not where it is, except that it is in the south," Plo Koon grumbled. "We need a proper plan of action instead of this vague agreement."

"... Then we shall send out knights in pairs or trio, depending on the level of danger they might face, out to the galactic south to scout out the danger," Mace Windu replied.

"Jedi masters will also have to be sent out to properly measure the danger. We should also triangulate location of the danger," Ki-Adi-Mundi added. "Knights may be ready for field work, but it is the masters who should lead."

"Agree, I do," Yoda hummed in agreement.

"But who should be out there? You can't send everyone," Saesee Tiin hummed. "I would like to volunteer to be out on the field."

"Yes, your skill as a stellar starfighter pilot would be a benefit to this mission," Ki-Adi-Mundi agreed. "But who will take care of ground investigation?"

"If I may…" The Jedi Council members turned to one of the masters who were part of the council but had been allowed into the meeting because of how widely the Force vision had affected the Jedi Order. The grey haired human jedi master standing to the side smiled. "I believe I can help you with that."

Yoda smiled at his once-padawan. "Help, your experience definitely will, Dooku" he said cheerfully.

* * *

Doto scoured the burnt wastelands of the blasted side of tidal-locked Ryloth. Without any special gears, he roamed these barren deserts, looking for Abnormals to turn into fuels.

Thanks to the Blessing of Kalakata, the heat of the sun that would have killed anyone else only mildly warmed him up. Coupled with the minor boosts the blessing gave to his speed and strength, it allowed him to jump around the rock pillars as he chased after a particularly fast Abnormal.

Shaped like a miniature lylek, it flittered around, dodging him.

"Stay still!" he growled as he jumped off a rock pillar and landed on another a dozen meters away. The Abnormal lylek tittered like it was giggling and jumped out of the way.

Doto knew that Abnormals were spiritual echoes of once living creatures. Incapable of interacting with the physical world, they were able to influence the Force to a small degree, but this also cost them their ability to remain as a cohesive and conscious spiritual construct.

The weakest of the Abnormals would form and disappear instantly, not even possessing a modicum of spiritual cohesion to withstand the natural pressure of the Force.

And then there were Abnormals like this miniature lylek.

Once in a while, an Abnormal would come to be that was so full of emotion and spirit that they would, instead of dissipating over time, gain more spiritual cohesiveness as long as they didn't try to influence the Force.

If he could just catch it, then it would be a small portion of a tribute worthy of the King of Kalakata-!

IF HE COULD JUST CATCH IT!

With a push, he lifted off from one stone pillar and made a swipe through the hot air for the mischievously flying away from him, only to fall short just a few centimeters away. "ARGH!" he screamed in frustration as his jump took him back down, and he landed on another pillar. He wasted no time and jumped higher and further this time. Surely, he could-!

The lylek Abnormal just stopped.

Doto opened his mouth in a "oh" as he flew over the Abnormal, and it laughed at him.

He bounced between two pillars before landing on his stomach on a much shorter third pillar.

"Ohhh…" he moaned in pain.

The Abnormal kept on laughing at him.

Doto gritted his teeth as he pushed himself back on the tiny precipice of the stone pillars.

"I will get you, and you will become a tribute to the great king!" he roared as he jumped again.

And missed again.


End file.
